The Celtics' team for the Orlando Summer League, which begins play against the Utah Jazz tomorrow, will provide a test to measure the progress of J.R. Giddens, Gabe Pruitt, and Bill Walker. None of the three figured into the Celtics' plans last season, and they faded beyond obscurity in the playoffs as coach Doc Rivers went with an eight-man rotation.
``For those guys, Summer League is big, just because they've got to prove to coaches and management they are worthy of it,'' Celtics president of Basketball operations Danny Ainge said last week. ``Otherwise, we've got to go out and find other players. Having said that, I've got all the confidence in the world in those players. They've been working extremely hard and they want to play and they want to be given an opportunity.'' Giddens and Walker are essentially competing for one spot on the team, because of the similarity of their games, Ainge said. Both are projected as potential backups for Paul Pierce, but neither displayed a consistent shooting threat last season.
Pruitt seemed on the verge of breaking out of his rookie mode last year with a strong preseason, but instead moved closer to the end of the bench after the Celtics acquired Stephon Marbury in March. Now that Marbury seems to be fading from the Celtics' plans, Pruitt is in position to make his mark. His greatest competition could come from rookie second-round pick Lester Hudson, who was a high-scoring, do-everything shooting guard in college but is projected as a point guard because of his size - he is just more than 6 feet tall.
``When I was playing for the Celtics , every year they drafted a guard,'' Ainge recalled. ``They had a Hall of Fame front line. You've got to prove yourself. That's just the way this business is, you've got to prove yourself. You're playing against the best competition night in and night out and it's no different when you are trying to win a job on a team that's trying to win a championship. You have to prove that you're worthy of a roster spot.''
The Celtics , who will play five games in Orlando, have invited five players who have been performing overseas: Nick Fazekas (Lyon Villeurbanne, France), Coby Karl (DKV Joventut, Spain), Chris Lofton (Mersin, Turkey), Bryce Taylor (Premiata Montegranaro, Italy), and Darius Washington (Ural Great, Russia); plus center-forward Mike Sweetney (ex-Chicago Bull and New York Knick) and center Robert Swift (ex-Oklahoma City Thunder), and rookie free agents Bryan Mullens (Southern Illinois) and Kevin Rogers (Baylor). The team will be coached by Austin Ainge (son of Danny and a top candidate to be named coach of Maine in the D-League), Mike Longabardi, and Jamie Young.
The entire Celtics coaching staff is expected to be in Orlando, including Tom Thibodeau, who has made phone contact with the Pistons as they search for a replacement for Michael Curry.
The Celtics are investing most of their offseason resources into Rasheed Wallace, offering him a multiyear, midlevel exception contract worth at least $5.6 million annually.
The Celtics came in with an immediate and strong recruiting pitch to Wallace, sending Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, and Pierce to his suburban Detroit home for a three-hour meeting last Thursday. Wallace will meet with other teams this week, likely Orlando and San Antonio, which could offer him a starting position. Charlotte is also interested in Wallace, who owns a home in North Carolina, but the Bobcats are considered a long shot since they are unlikely to be championship contenders.
Few free agents could make as strong an impact as Wallace, though he would be projected as a reserve with the Celtics . But Ainge noted free agent recruitment is unpredictable.
``A few years ago, there was no way we could get James Posey,'' Ainge said. ``We were so far apart in what we thought the values were and what we were able to pay. And all of a sudden, in August, he was still available. Sometimes patience pays off.
``Most evaluations are tough because you are evaluating a system. Why there are so many mistakes made in the last five or six years of free agency, is the midlevel exception. A player that's playing really well on one team, they pay him a big dollar amount to come play on another team and it doesn't work out.
``They may look good somewhere, but evaluations are tough - even if they're five-, six-year veterans. How they're going to fit in with your team, how they are going to get along with your coach, the fitting part of that midlevel exception, is usually the most difficult part. And we also see guys that are very successful with some franchises that just can't play in another one. That's why we have to evaluate, we have to get value for the players we sign. We have $60 million tied up in three guys. But getting the best player for the right value - the value of some of these midlevel guys that have a bigger name and have had a little bit of recent success vs. what a minimum salary could bring us.''
